


After

by eponine119



Category: Lost
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eponine119/pseuds/eponine119
Summary: Sawyer and Juliet walk back from the dock
Relationships: Juliet Burke/James "Sawyer" Ford
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	After

After  
by eponine119  
August 4, 2020

Sawyer wonders what Juliet was doing, sitting out here on this dock anyway. Was she planning on sitting here all night, waiting for the sub in the morning, to make sure she wasn't going to miss it? 

Did she want to get off this rock that bad? 

If she did, how had he changed her mind? Would it stay changed?

“I'll walk back with you,” she says. She puts her hand on the crates, but in a second, he's there with his hand stretched out to help her up. She puts her hand in his, and he wraps his fingers around hers firmly. They linger for a second once she's on her feet, but then she pulls away. 

They fall into step, walking slowly back toward the yellow houses they've both spent some time living in, in the past that's the future from this moment. He starts to think it's going to be a silent walk, and he tries to think of something worthwhile to say. 

“LaFleur, really?” she asks. 

“Keep your voice down,” he hisses at her, and takes in her smile. It makes him smile again, like he did on the dock, and then they're standing there smiling at each other like a couple of fools, so he scowls. “I don't know what the rules are with this time travel thing.” He glances at her and she looks like he might have a good point. 

“Did you give the rest of us codenames too?” she asks, and she sounds a little bit amused. 

“Kept it simple,” he said. “Best way to lie is to stay close to the truth.” 

“I guess you'd know,” she says. 

“I guess you would too,” he shoots back. Funny how he hated her so much a couple of weeks ago, on the beach. She looks at him like she's thinking about the same damn thing. Funny how he doesn't feel that way anymore. There's something like confusion in her big blue eyes, and her eyebrows draw together for a moment before she starts walking again, a little faster. 

“Hey,” he says, and puts his hand on her arm. She looks at him, and doesn't pull away. He doesn't know what he intended to say, except that it wasn't “sorry.” Now he becomes very aware of her skin under his palm, and how close to him she's standing, and the way her breath hitches in her chest the same way his does. She looks up into his eyes, and he isn't really sure whether he kisses her or if she kisses him, but their lips meet and he realizes he's been thinking about this for a little while now. 

She steps back, with her hand still touching the side of his face. She looks into his eyes. He wants to do it again. Slowly, she takes her hand away.

“Oops,” he says, playfully, giving her his best dimpled grin. 

“Is that why you asked me to stay?” she asks, still a little breathless. 

“What if I say yes,” he asks, and she gets that little secret smile again, the one he thinks he could fall in love with. 

“And here I thought you were interested in conversation,” she teases. 

“Overrated,” he declares. 

“You're almost as good with words,” she says, and leans in to kiss him again. He closes his eyes and holds her and he thinks that she feels good in his arms. 

“Almost?” he challenges, with just a whisper of space between them. 

“How long have you been thinking about that?” she asks. It scares him a little, that she's got him figured out so completely. 

“Since...” He thinks about lying, but he can't. “I don't know.” The madness of the last few days plays through his head. When he could have run from the flames and just saved his own skin, but he looked back and saw her and ran back to get her without even a second thought? The outrigger, when she saved his hide? The clearing earlier that day, when she saved his ass again? “You?”

She shakes her head. Like she hadn't thought about it at all. Or like she's not telling if he won't. For a second, he thinks she's going to slide into another kiss, but her eyes turn guarded. “Don't make me regret this.” 

He wonders if she means staying, or this. Kissing him. Or if they're the same thing. He should say _I won't_ but that's not the kind of promise he can make. Every girl regrets him, sooner or later. All he can do is make it worthwhile in the moment. 

He sighs, and they fall into step again, walking back. 

“What should my name be?” she asks, teasing him now. “James,” she adds, to needle him a bit more. But it's the funniest thing: except for the way it gave away his secrets to everyone else, he's never really minded that name coming from her. It's different. He's different. He'll be different here. 

“No sassy nickname?” she presses. But she doesn't need one. He doesn't want to hold her at a distance. He's here. With her. He's present, and they're both real. 

“You make a pretty good Juliet,” he says softly. 

After a heartbeat, she reaches over and takes his hand. He doesn't say anything, and he doesn't pull away. Neither does she. It's nice, he thinks, and he kind of hopes that she never lets go. 

(end)


End file.
